Bovine beer bash in Boxford

Lt. James Riter and officer Joseph Borodawka were called to Main Street, Boxford for an animal complaint Sunday night that involved a half-dozen cows on a drinking spree.

The Boxford police had their hands full when a call came into the station at 9:11 p.m. concerning six black-and-white cows on the loose in the area of Main and Foster streets.

Kathryn O’Brien/tritown@wickedlocal.com

Cows drink until they get home

Lt. James Riter and officer Joseph Borodawka were called to Main Street, Boxford for an animal complaint Sunday night that involved a half-dozen cows on a drinking spree.

The Boxford police had their hands full when a call came into the station at 9:11 p.m. concerning six black-and-white cows on the loose in the area of Main and Foster streets.

“I found evidence of their whereabouts and followed them down Main Street,” said Lt. Riter, who said he stayed behind them in the cruiser, to keep them safe while he contacted the owner who lives on nearby Maple Avenue.

“At that point, the cows decided to run behind a Main Street house where there was a party of young adult females in the backyard,” recalled Lt. Riter.

“I could hear them [the girls] screaming in the backyard and I hoped they weren’t getting trampled,” said Riter. He witnessed about 10-13 young people run from a picnic table where they had been drinking beer when the cows arrived. The young women all jumped up on the rear deck of the house to avoid contact with the cows.

Meanwhile, the party cows were helping themselves to the beer, knocking the beer-filled cups off the table. “I saw one cow drinking the beer on its way down as it spilled off the table,” the lieutenant said.

“Some of the cows were also picking through the empties in the recycling bin,” said Lt. Riter. “They just went in and helped themselves.”

“The young women were absolutely in shock,” added Riter, who said that they were mostly from out of town and not used to the rural surroundings of Boxford.

Riter jokingly speculated that the cows might have worked up a thirst after their long walk from their home field on Maple Avenue to the Main Street party house.

After the owner of the cows arrived on the scene, the cows were herded back to their field on Maple Avenue. It took about an hour and 10 minutes to make the trip, said Riter.

When he was first received a picture of the cows via cell phone, Police Chief Michael Murphy thought they were deer. But then he realized, no, “It’s just a bunch of cows having a few beers.”

Selectman helped corral cows

Selectman Peter Perkins and his wife Beverly pitched in Sunday night to help corral the cows.

“I was listening on the scanner when the call came in,” recalled Perkins, who lives near the cow farm. “When I went outside, I saw the owner looking for his cows and the three of us got in the car and headed toward Main Street.”

“Because the cows were having such a good time at the [party] house, it was hard to get them to leave,” said Perkins. “Once we got them started, there was a lot of hollering and yelling to keep them moving. We had a cruiser positioned at the front and back of the cows.”

Noting that he was wearing his worn-out LL Bean slippers, Perkins, a marathoner runner, said they were moving at a very fast pace. “I was thinking — if we stop we’ll lose them.”

“It was an exciting way to end a Sunday night in Boxford,” commented Perkins who added, “It was just like the old Boxford.”